Despite the valuable contributions of earlier learning studies, the specific analysis of how entrepreneurs and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) learn has been sidelined in the literature. Significant research opportunities remain open in various unexplored realms. By adopting a multidisciplinary perspective that combines a variety of frameworks (i.e., organizational, economic, and innovation management), the collection of 11 studies of this special issue dedicated to learning delivers valuable insights into how entrepreneurs and SMEs capitalize on learning processes, while identifying how these processes are affected by the type of experience (i.e., success and failure). This paper first overviews the contributions of the 11 papers included in the special issue. Next, we discuss a number of yet unresolved topics that deserve academic attention, paying special attention to entrepreneurs’ direct and indirect experiences, knowledge obsolescence caused by technology upgrading, and the role of digital technologies—i.e., Internet-of-things and artificial intelligence—in the learning processes.

尽管早期的学习研究做出了宝贵的贡献，但对企业家和中小企业如何学习的具体分析却在文献中被搁置。在各个未探索的领域仍然存在重要的研究机会。通过采用结合各种框架（即组织、经济和创新管理）的多学科视角，本期专门针对学习的 11 项研究收集提供了关于企业家和中小企业如何利用学习过程的宝贵见解，同时识别这些过程如何受到经验类型（即成功和失败）的影响。本文首先概述了特刊中收录的 11 篇论文的贡献。接下来，我们讨论一些尚未解决的值得学术关注的话题，特别关注企业家的直接和间接经验、技术升级导致的知识陈旧以及数字技术（即物联网和人工智能）的作用——在学习过程中。